


"He's My Dog"

by Aithilin



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3213803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft Holmes has a puppy and a little brother. He's not the sharing sort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"He's My Dog"

They got the dog for Mycroft. There was a book about the rise of sibling rivalry, and how the inclusion of pets could make the transition easier. Mummy Holmes had worked out the probabilities herself, and they agreed that a puppy for Mycroft would be the best way to soften the transition. So they took Mycroft to the farm just outside of the village, and he selected a tiny puppy from the litter to call his own. 

When Sherlock came home, Mycroft took the puppy to meet him. He was seven, and very clever. He understood what a little brother was, and that he was old enough to have some responsibility now, and that he would have to share attention and space (but he would be at school more often, anyway) now. But the puppy was his. And he wanted to make sure that the squirming, fussing, little baby in the old cot in the new nursery (which used to be Mummy’s study) understood that the puppy was _his_.

"William," He said, with all the conviction and disdain a chubby seven year-old could muster as he held up a curious puppy; "this is Redbeard. He is my dog. Not yours."

He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction a week-old baby was capable of giving. He was certain that the little burp wasn’t a show of understanding. 

So he came back once a day (after school, but before his afternoon snack, because this was important) to show Sherlock the puppy, and to repeat that he was _not_ sharing. 

It went on for months, right up to the summer holidays, when Mycroft would rush home to reassert his claim on the dog. 

It was on the first day of his proper holidays that he realized that his little brother had already stolen the dog. Redbeard slept below the cot, followed Mummy around when she picked up the boy, whined until she set him down again. The puppy sat guard outside the nursery and dropped toys into the cot. Discarded bottles were fetched, and cries were met with anxious whines. 

Mycroft begged his parents for a summer away. A trip to London for a few days, a visit to the sea for a week, even a camping trip in Wales. So long as it didn’t involve the baby. Or the dog. 

Daddy Holmes agreed to a weekend trip to London. The day before they left, Mycroft leaned over the cot and glared at his happy, gurgling brother. 

"Redbeard doesn’t like you. Not really. He’s my dog. But I’ll let you borrow him."


End file.
